Doug Ridley
New member
What is the difference in.38 Special ammo and plain .38?
Ammo terms
- Thread starter Doug Ridley
- Start date
I'm no expert.
Today it's nearly synonymous but in vintage firearms you would want the correct loads between .38 S&W and .38special. The former being a much earlier developed cartridge. There were also other .38 caliber cartridges like .38 long colt.
Read this thread. http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226907
There are probably other threads as well, I stopped looking at 1.
There is also a .38 Super, but this is a semiauto pistol cartridge, was developed in the very early 20th or maybe even late 19th century. It is stated to be the preferred cartridge for the 1911 by it's inventor John Browning.
Today it's nearly synonymous but in vintage firearms you would want the correct loads between .38 S&W and .38special. The former being a much earlier developed cartridge. There were also other .38 caliber cartridges like .38 long colt.
Read this thread. http://thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=226907
There are probably other threads as well, I stopped looking at 1.
There is also a .38 Super, but this is a semiauto pistol cartridge, was developed in the very early 20th or maybe even late 19th century. It is stated to be the preferred cartridge for the 1911 by it's inventor John Browning.
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There is no such thing as a "plain .38"... to just say: ".38" is not a correct way expressing what a gun is chambered for. There were and are several different .38 caliber handgun cartridges. .38 Short Colt, .38 Long Colt,.38 Smith & Wesson, .38 S&W Special, .38 Auto, .38 Super Auto and although they are not called .38's, .357 Magnum, .357 H&R, and .357 Maximum are also .38 calibers.
The important thing is to know what your gun is chambered for (usually stamped on the barrel), and shoot what it is chambered for. Nevertheless, there are some guns that routinely accept and safely fire shorter versions of a cartridge in a gun but when in doubt, read the first sentence in this paragraph.
Doug Ridley
New member
Let me ask another way. What will a Colt Police Positive .38 shoot? Can I shoot .38 specials in it?
My understanding is that some colt police positives are chambered for .38 special, but NOT ALL. I think it must be marked as a colt police positive special. If it is marked as a .38 or .38 S&W then be wary of firing .38special.
Also not that if it IS marked as .38special or as a "police positive special" that you may not want to fire .38 special +P, these would be too high pressure for your firearm.
Also not that if it IS marked as .38special or as a "police positive special" that you may not want to fire .38 special +P, these would be too high pressure for your firearm.
If it is marked .38 Police Positive Special, it is chambered for .38 Special.
If it is marked just .38 Police Positive, it is chambered for .38 Colt New Police, which is the same as .38 Smith & Wesson.
In older times, Colt and S&W were major rivals in the revolver market. Each company made revolvers for the same cartridges, but neither would put their rival's name on their guns. So Colt made the first Police Positive for the popular .38 S&W, but would not put "S&W" on a Colt revolver, so Colt changed the bullet shape a bit and renamed the cartridge ".38 Colt New Police". They did the same thing with .38 Special, "inventing" the .38 Colt Special, which was the same thing as the .38 S&W Special. That nonsense has been long gone, and today the cartridge is just the .38 Special. The name for the .38 S&W has been kept to distinguish it from the .38 Special.
Jim
If it is marked just .38 Police Positive, it is chambered for .38 Colt New Police, which is the same as .38 Smith & Wesson.
In older times, Colt and S&W were major rivals in the revolver market. Each company made revolvers for the same cartridges, but neither would put their rival's name on their guns. So Colt made the first Police Positive for the popular .38 S&W, but would not put "S&W" on a Colt revolver, so Colt changed the bullet shape a bit and renamed the cartridge ".38 Colt New Police". They did the same thing with .38 Special, "inventing" the .38 Colt Special, which was the same thing as the .38 S&W Special. That nonsense has been long gone, and today the cartridge is just the .38 Special. The name for the .38 S&W has been kept to distinguish it from the .38 Special.
Jim
Doug Ridley
New member
Thanks guys. I'll go look at it again but I think it is marked Police Positive which I reckon means I would have to have .38 S&W cartridges. Are they still readily available?
Driftwood Johnson
New member
Howdy
There were two 38 caliber versions of the Colt Police Positive revolver.
As has been stated, the original Police Positive was chambered for the 38 S&W cartridge. The Police Positive Special was chambered for the 38 Special. The cylinder of the Police Positive Special is slightly longer than the cylinder of a Police Positive, in order to accommodate the longer cartridge. The frame is also slightly longer, to accommodate the longer cylinder.
The top and middle revolvers in this photo are both Police Positive Specials. The smaller gun at the bottom is a 32 caliber Police Positive.
Here is the caliber marking on the longer barreled gun. This is an older gun from the 192s.
And here is the caliber marking on the shorter barreled gun, from the 1960s.
Here is a photo of a 38 S&W round on the left and a 38 Special round on the right. This is why the Police Positive Special had the longer cylinder and frame.
Smith and Wesson is very proud of the fact that they developed the 38 Special Cartridge, and always mark their revolvers that fire it 38 S&W SPECIAL CTG (for cartridge)
Colt leaves the S&W name off and just labels their guns 38 Special. Same cartridge.
There were two 38 caliber versions of the Colt Police Positive revolver.
As has been stated, the original Police Positive was chambered for the 38 S&W cartridge. The Police Positive Special was chambered for the 38 Special. The cylinder of the Police Positive Special is slightly longer than the cylinder of a Police Positive, in order to accommodate the longer cartridge. The frame is also slightly longer, to accommodate the longer cylinder.
The top and middle revolvers in this photo are both Police Positive Specials. The smaller gun at the bottom is a 32 caliber Police Positive.
Here is the caliber marking on the longer barreled gun. This is an older gun from the 192s.
And here is the caliber marking on the shorter barreled gun, from the 1960s.
Here is a photo of a 38 S&W round on the left and a 38 Special round on the right. This is why the Police Positive Special had the longer cylinder and frame.
Smith and Wesson is very proud of the fact that they developed the 38 Special Cartridge, and always mark their revolvers that fire it 38 S&W SPECIAL CTG (for cartridge)
Colt leaves the S&W name off and just labels their guns 38 Special. Same cartridge.